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Poetry: Already dead inside

by Samantha Pratt-Tyler

Loss of innocence at an early age
You took what people say is sacred
But what you took was a part of me

My life was forever altered in a few
seconds
No longer fitting in with those of
my age
I am alone, depressed and numb

I feel nothing for there is nothing
to feel, I have deadened myself
to the world, to those around me

I am no longer a child, but not a woman
All I feel is dead inside, something that
Will never change for a part of me will
Always feel that loss, that deadness
Inside of me.

I may smile and joke, I may laugh, but
the saddness is always there, lurking
In the shadows ready to jump out at
moment

You may see a whole person on the outside
But the inside is not what you see, for
I can not allow you to see the shell of who
I am for you will never understand how
Being molested, raped and abused can leave
You already dead inside
So I must pretend to be alive, it takes so
Much effort I am exhausted, but I go on for
I know I must, and I must continue to hide
That part of me that is already dead inside.

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